Back in Time for Dinner
by foobar137
Summary: Summer's great when you're young, but in high school, teachers expect papers to be ready on the first day of school. An attempt to combine a history paper and a big idea ends up with Phineas and Isabella stranded 130,000 years in the past. When forced to depend on each other, will they finally admit to their feelings? And what will happen if they do?
1. Chapter 1

**Setting details and ages: my assumption is that Phineas's birthday in the Clip-O-Rama is his 11th; Isabella's birthday is earlier in the year, Ferb's is later, and they're all in the same class year. This takes place 4 years later, beginning of summer, so Isabella is 15 while Phineas and Ferb are 14.**

Isabella awoke to her alarm clock going off at 6:30am. She rolled out of bed and silenced the alarm on her way to the bathroom before realizing that she'd forgotten to turn it off; today was the first day of summer vacation, and she could have slept in. _Darn. Now I'm awake. And I was having such a nice dream about Phineas,_ she thought. _He'd just told me that he'd always loved me and couldn't hide it anymore, and wanted to be with me forever._

Freshman year was over, and she had just turned 15; Phineas's 15th birthday was coming up soon. She'd been head-over-heels for the tall red-haired boy across the street for almost half her life, and yet he still seemed oblivious. He liked her, that much was obvious, and she'd noticed that he didn't treat her just as a friend, but he never opened the door to any more than that.

_And I don't push the issue, because he might say no. And so I try to hide my feelings and never force him to make the decision. I'd rather have 'maybe' forever than risk a 'no'._

Well, maybe he'd finally make the first move this summer. Presumably he had another summer of great things planned. Maybe one of them was announcing his undying love for the Mexican-Jewish girl from across the street.

A more cynical part of her brain said, _It's more likely he'll fly to the moon. Again._

* * *

Ferb wandered down to breakfast to find Phineas already there, glaring at a piece of paper as Perry ate Purina Platypus Chow in the corner.

"Can you believe this, Ferb?" Phineas said. "They gave us _homework_. Over the _summer_. That's just _wrong._ It's going to be impossible to do anything creative with this hanging over our heads."

Ferb considered. "Perhaps we should get it done, then, so we don't have to worry about it any more."

Phineas sighed. "I suppose. That feels wrong, too. Like we can't even enjoy our summer vacation yet. And besides, everybody will be coming over here, expecting us to have something cool in store. How lame will it be to say, 'Sorry, we're doing homework today'?"

Ferb kept silent. He knew his step-brother would figure out the right answer to just about everything, given a little prodding and some time. _Everything except his relationship with Isabella, I suppose. Eventually he's going to have to come clean about how long he's known she likes him, and how long he's liked her._

_Sometimes I just want to lock the two of them in a room together and not let them out until they figure this out._

Phineas sat up. "I think...we can't solve this one on an empty stomach. We'll figure this out after breakfast."

Ferb nodded and got two cereal bowls.

* * *

Phineas sat with his brother under the big tree in the back yard, staring at the paper.

Ferb said, "It hasn't changed."

Phineas sighed. "I know. It's just...the reading assignments are fine, we've read most of them anyway. It's the history paper I'm worried about. 'Choose a time and place in history; write a three-page paper describing the daily life of a typical person of that era, from their perspective.' How can we visualize...oh! Ferb, I know what we're going to do today!"

Ferb nodded at him.

"Let's build a time-projector so we can look through time and do the research for our papers while still doing something cool today!"

Ferb stood up and headed for the parts bin.

"Hi, Phineas. Whatcha doin'?" asked a female voice from the gate.

Phineas looked up. Isabella had grown up and had filled out in very...distracting ways. Her magenta dress was awfully short, and clung to her curves; the white shirt under it kept it from clinging _too_ much. He made sure his eyes jumped to her face, framed by long flowing black hair, and didn't linger on her chest too long; while she didn't get upset at him the way she did at Buford, he didn't want to encourage her too much. He liked her as a good friend, and knew she had had a massive crush on him for years, but he hadn't been ready to deal with a relationship when he realized, and there had been no way to tell her "not yet" that she wouldn't interpret as "go away". And he really didn't want her to go away.

"Hi, Isabella. We're getting ready to do the history paper with a time projector. Want to do yours too while we're at it?"

"Sure! Mind if the other Fireside Girls join in?" she asked.

"No, not at all. Hi, Baljeet!"

The Indian boy, still shorter than the rest, came in with his laptop. "Hello. What is it you are doing today?"

Isabella glared at Baljeet.

Phineas looked around. "Hey, where's Perry?"

* * *

Perry unlocked the door to the Doofenshmirtz Evil, Inc. penthouse and walked in.

"Just a minute, Perry the Platypus, I'll be right with you!"

Perry looked around. The usual -inator hiding under a sheet, several traps - he carefully stepped around a button on the floor - and the sound of flushing and hand-washing, followed by Dr. Doofenshmirtz coming out of a side room.

"Sorry about that, just awful timing."

Perry stepped forward, and metal arms snaked forward and grabbed his limbs. A fifth came from below to pin his tail.

"Ah-hah! Perry the Platypus, now I have you! And with my Time-Stop-Inator..."

He paused to pull the sheet off, revealing a complicated-looking gadget.

"...I will be able to stop time where ever I want! For, oh, about an hour at a time. Plenty to time for me to Take Over the Entire Tri-State Area!"

* * *

Isabella bided her time as Baljeet finished watching the view of Gupta Empire-era India through the time projector, and put his laptop away.

"Thank you very much, my friends. With these notes I will get an A+ on this paper for certain," he said.

"No problem, Baljeet," Phineas said. "Isabella, are you ready?"

Isabella stepped forward, smiling at Phineas. Tall and red-headed, with a noble nose and strong build, he was looking very nice in his usual striped shirt and shorts, and she needed to tell herself to focus on her task instead of him. "I'd like to see Danville, a hundred years ago."

Ferb, at the control panel, started tweaking the knobs. A view of old-time Danville appeared through the projector opening. Isabella opened her notebook and started taking notes.

* * *

Perry twisted, but could not get free from the metal arms. Doofenshmirtz, however, flinched at the movement and bumped into the control panel. A beam shot off out the window.

"Sorry, I'm just used to you getting loose all of a sudden and beating me up." He leaned out the window. "Sorry about that!"

He turned back, only to be hit in the face by a platypus-foot. "Ow! Yes, exactly like that! Hey, how did you get..." A platypus fist silenced him, and knocked him back into the control panel again. Another beam shot out, hit the mirror on the wall, and bounced back, stopping time for both evil scientist and platypus.

* * *

Isabella was almost done taking notes when the beam hit the time window.

"Whoa, where did that come from?" Phineas asked, jumping up to see what was going on.

Ferb shook his head as the control panel went wild.

The time-stop-inator beam was causing the time projector to flicker from time period to time period, flashing scenes from prehistoric times and just yesterday, all over the world. Isabella stood up and started backing away, but bumped into Phineas, who was moving forward. They fell over each other just as the projector's field expanded, pulling them in, before it vanished entirely. Ferb looked at the empty projector window, then down at the control panel. Smoke was starting to come from under the keys.

* * *

Isabella found Phineas on top of her, which was far from the worst thing that could happen from her perspective. He apologetically climbed off of her, and they looked around. This wasn't in Danville anymore, or anywhere she recognized; they were in a small clearing. The area was lightly forested and fairly flat, dusted by fallen leaves from the trees that were just starting to change color; the air smelled of pine and earth, and off to one side, she could hear a burbling stream. The temperature was a bit chillier than what they'd left, but not much. The sun was mid-way up the sky.

Phineas's voice was full of surprise. "What happened?"

"I don't know. Something hit the projector, we bumped into each other, and we ended up here."

"I bet it was another time-modifier beam of some sort. We could have ended up anywhen or anywhere!"

"Is there any way back?" she asked.

He looked around. "We don't look like we ended up in the recent enough past that there's a technology base we can work with. I think we need to hope Ferb is able to track us down. We probably don't want to go far from here."

"Why not?"

"If they had a fix on us when we dropped here, then they should be able to open a new portal... Any minute now... C'mon, Ferb..." Phineas paced around the clearing.

"But what if it takes him an hour to fix the machine?"

"Then they just open the portal to a minute or so after we got here; it's just time travel, it's not _that_ difficult. We'll be back in time for dinner."

* * *

Baljeet looked at Ferb. "Where are they?"

"I don't know. More importantly, I don't know when they are either."


	2. Chapter 2

**Many thanks for the reviews and encouragement. I'm hoping to get one chapter up a day - this will be, in total, seven chapters plus an epilogue.**

Phineas stopped pacing and sighed. They'd been waiting about ten minutes, with no sign of rescue.

Isabella looked around. "Okay, then. If they were going to track us immediately, they'd have done it already?"

"Yes, it shouldn't have taken this long," Phineas answered.

"So, since they haven't opened up a return portal, then they couldn't open one right now for some reason."

"Maybe they couldn't pin down when or where we ended up too precisely, or something went wrong with the targeting."

Isabella nodded. "Right. In that case, let's assume we're stuck here for a while. Let's mark the clearing so if they get the location but are off on the time, they can find us, and then we'll head off to that stream. If it's big enough, we can stay there; if not, we can follow it to something bigger. We're going to need water, food, and shelter, not necessarily in that order. Fortunately, we have resources. Fireside Girls are always prepared."

"I've got my multitool. It's got a firestarter."

"Excellent, that'll make things easier. I have my Swiss Army knife that you gave me for my birthday last year. Most importantly, though, I have this." She pulled out the thick book she'd had her notebook on for support - her Fireside Girls Handbook.

"Wow. Fortunately for me, then, I have you," Phineas said.

She gave him a smile like a beam of sunlight, then her face suddenly closed off like a mask. "Yeah, whatevs." She picked up a large stick, scuffed a large flat spot in the dirt of the clearing, and wrote FERB in the dirt, with an arrow pointing in the direction she planned to go. "Okay, let's go find the stream."

They started off, lining up trees to keep in a straight line and marking them with Isabella's Swiss Army knife so they could find their way back to the clearing. "If there are people around, then they're probably near water. But...this doesn't look like there have been people here recently." They caught glimpses of wildlife as they walked - squirrels and rabbits fled from them, as did wild turkeys and smaller birds. A couple straight branches made for impromptu walking sticks. A small bobcat eyed them from a tree branch; they gave it a wide berth. Some small bushes yielded black raspberries, and a low vine had small green tomatoes. The stream was small here, but headed down toward a river they could now see in the distance.

The trees thinned out near the wide river, and plains seemed to stretch beyond it forever. Off in the distance was a herd of large bison. "Okay. Water - this is flowing and there are fish in it, so it's probably safe to drink."

"Fish? Hey, look, you're right!"

Isabella started sharpening her walking stick. "Okay, it looks like we've got about 3 hours of daylight left. Why don't you gather some wood for a fire and to make a shelter from? I," she said, hefting her newly-made spear, "will try to catch us some dinner."

* * *

Baljeet ran around the empty spot where the projection had been. "No! This cannot be! Where did they go?"

Gretchen, shaken, said, "I think they got sucked in to...whenever it was showing at the time. I think it looked sylvan."

"Surely they will be back soon, right?"

Buford said, "I don't think so. There didn't look like there were any things Phineas could use to build a time machine there."

Baljeet stopped. "But how can we get them back, then?"

Ferb, silently, started disassembling the portal's control panel. Gretchen came over and looked over his shoulder. "Is it fixable?" He nodded. "Can I help?" He gestured to the seat beside him, and she sat down.

Buford's eyes narrowed. "But if we don't know when or where they went..."

Ginger said, "That wouldn't stop Phineas from finding one of us, in whatever weird time distortion we ended up in."

Baljeet suddenly turned to her. "That is it! We need to find the time distortion that they would have caused at the other end when they arrived! Thank you!" He gave her a quick hug, leaving her stunned and smiling, and grabbed his laptop.

Linda wandered out into the back yard. "Hi, everyone. I brought out some snacks. Where's Phineas?"

"Isabella was showing him something," Buford evaded.

"Oh, really? Well, maybe she's giving up on subtlety finally."


	3. Chapter 3

Phineas was just getting the fire going in a little camp where the stream left the woods when Isabella came back, soaking wet and carrying three fish.

"Isabella, you're soaked!"

"Gee, I hadn't noticed," she said through clenched teeth that were starting to chatter. "I slipped trying to climb the river bank, and fell in the water."

"Go get warm by the fire. What's the handbook say for dealing with this sort of situation?"

"Get the person into dry clothes and wrap them with a blanket. Neither of which we have." She stood as close to the fire as she could, but it was still a fairly feeble flame and not able to warm her much.

"Um...here." He pulled his shirt off and handed it to her, then turned his back to her. "You can put that on while your dress dries. I promise I won't peek."

_No, you won't peek_, she thought._ No matter how much parts of me wish you would._

Sighing, she pulled her dress and shirt over her head, then paused only a few seconds before adding her bra to the pile. _I should tell him to turn around now, but he'd probably just think I'm being silly. Just my luck to fall in love with the densest boy ever to live._

_So why don't you just stop hinting around and tell him?_

She decided, as usual, to ignore that thought, and pulled Phineas's shirt over her head. It fit loosely, and barely covered her underwear. He'd been working all afternoon hauling wood, so the shirt smelled of him...a bit strongly, even, but it was still a good thing. "Okay, you can turn around now. Thank you, Phineas. You're a true gentleman." It didn't hurt that he was nice to look at without a shirt. All the building and mechanical work he did had a nice effect on his physique, so she watched him setting up the shelter as she gutted and cleaned the fish, then wrapped them in leaves and put them by the fire. Slowly, she warmed up, the fire heated, the fish cooked, her clothes dried, and Isabella pondered.

_We're not getting back from this one quickly. Ferb would have already gotten us if he could. It's me and Phineas against the world. We're going to have to fight to survive here._

* * *

She made him turn around once more so she could put her dress back on. Having her back in her normal clothes was probably a good thing. He'd known Isabella was distracting, but having her jiggling inside his shirt was well beyond distracting and into my-pants-are-too-tight territory.

They opened the leaves and were greeted by the smell of truly fresh fish. She tasted one, and said, "I don't know when I've had fish that tastes this good before."

"It's because you worked so hard for it. I saw you out there spear-fishing - it was impressive!"

"You worked for it too. I saw how many loads of fallen wood you brought back."

"We make a good team," he said, and received another blinding smile from her, followed by the mask again as she focused on her dinner.

_I hate it when she closes herself off like that. I'd be tempted to offer her the relationship she wants, but am I really ready for that? How do I compete with the version of our relationship she's built up in her mind? How do I tell her how long I've been acting oblivious? And so we've been stuck in this limbo for years now._

_This can't go on much longer._

* * *

Baljeet ran calculations on his laptop while Ferb and Gretchen rebuilt the time portal. "I am finding the temporal anomaly. It appears they are approximately 130,000 years in the past and just south of Danville. I do not think I can give you more accurate timing than plus or minus a week, though. I am so sorry, it's just that the energy signature is so faint..."

"That's okay, the fine targeting is destroyed and I don't think I can target more precisely than a day or two anyway," Ferb said.

Gretchen looked up at Ferb quizzically; he gave a quelling hand gesture, and she shrugged.

Buford chimed in, "Can they survive a day or two in the wild?"

Ginger glared at him. "Isabella's a Fireside Girl troop leader. And Phineas is...well, Phineas."

"I'll bet you ten bucks that when we find them, they're getting desperate."

"Deal. And ten more says that being alone with him like this gives her enough time to finally get through his thick skull."

"You're on."


	4. Chapter 4

**Many thanks for the reviews and encouragement. Axis21...let's just say I'm not taking that bet.**

Phineas was sitting against a tree watching the sun go down as Isabella came back from putting more wood on the fire. She'd braided her hair to try to keep it under control as it dried, draping it over her shoulder.

"Whatcha doin'?" she asked.

"Just watching the sunset. Once the sun goes down we can look at the stars and maybe get a feel for when we are and how far north. We know we're in North America, because we saw turkeys, and I think we're far enough back that there aren't any people around."

"The wind's picking up a bit," she said. "We're going to need that shelter you built."

"It's not much of a shelter. And it's kind of small."

"That's a good thing. We're...um, going to need to share body heat. It's probably going to get a bit chilly tonight." She sat down next to him.

_Sharing body heat with Isabella. Wow, she's not being subtle tonight. Not that it sounds bad..._

"Oh. You're looking cold already. Come here, we can share some heat now," he said.

She smiled and slid the few inches separating them, and he put his arm around her. She put her head on his shoulder and sighed contentedly.

_That was a happy sigh,_ he thought._ We're stuck in some unknown time and place, possibly never to return home, but being with me makes her happy._

_Well, that's only fair. Being with her makes me happy._

He jumped a bit, startled by the realization. _Wait. Being with her _does_ make me happy._

_Hell with it. I'm sick of Limbo._

* * *

Isabella was enjoying being held when she felt him twitch suddenly. His voice quivering a bit, he asked, "I-Isabella?"

"Mm?"

"I'm sorry." Her heart seemed to stop cold, but then he continued, "...I really like you, Isabella. As more than just a friend. I'm sorry I never let you know before."

She smiled at him again; he seemed almost dazzled. "I like you as more than a friend too. And...I'm sorry I never let you know."

"You did. I knew."

She sat up and turned toward him, outraged. "You KNEW?"

"You _were_ kind of obvious. I'd have had to be the most oblivious boy on the planet not to notice."

She glared at him. "So why didn't you tell me? Why did you act like you didn't know?"

"I couldn't tell you 'no', because it would have broken your heart, and I...liked you too much for that. I couldn't tell you 'not yet', because that would be the same as 'no'. And I wasn't ready to tell you 'yes' yet."

"And you are now?"

He took a deep breath. "Yes. Yes, I am. Would you mind if I...stopped being oblivious?"

Her eyes narrowed. "You think you can just stop being oblivious and make it all better?"

He sighed. "No, I understand. I'm sorry, Isabella. I understand if you don't want to..."

"I didn't say that!" she interrupted. "I just need to think about this."

"While you're thinking, want to come back here and start getting warm again?"

She glowered at him. "Okay." She slid over and put her head back on his shoulder, and he put his arm back around her.

* * *

Baljeet looked up from his laptop. "Okay, Ferb, sending you coordinates...now."

Ferb nodded, and turned on the time projector. A brief view of a forest clearing with the word FERB scratched in the dirt came up before sparks came out from under the keyboard and the projector switched off again.

Ginger shouted, "They're alive! And waiting for us! Baljeet, your calculations worked!" She jumped over and hugged him.

Baljeet, stunned, hugged her back as Ferb and Gretchen started re-repairing the projector.

* * *

In the glow of the fire, Isabella looked at the little shelter. There wasn't much to it, just two trees with a long stick between them and two sides that made a low tent-shaped structure covered with leafy branches. A blanket of leaves covered the dirt floor. "How come when we were on the island, you and I and Ferb built that massive set of huts so quickly?"

"We had the tools and resources from the ship, and monkeys to help. I don't think the bison would be as useful. And the turkeys would just be a complete waste of time. Anyway, Ferb's the engineer, you know that. I'm the idea man."

She nodded. "It's going to be a bit snug. That's probably a good thing, but...let's just try to get some sleep, okay? I still need to think a bit about...us."

They crawled in. If they got as far apart from each other as they could, there was about 6 inches between them.

"Cozy," Isabella said.

They lay back-to-back and tried to go to sleep.

"Phineas?" Isabella asked.

"Yes?"

"Did you know what I was doing in Paris?"

"No. I didn't realize at the time. I was too concerned about the plane and the bet. I realized later. I should have apologized, but couldn't without it all coming out. I am sorry about that, and need to make it up to you someday. Why?"

"I needed to know."

* * *

The saber-toothed tiger sniffed the air. _That's odd. I smell fire. And...something different. Some creature I've never smelled before._

Fear of the unknown fought against curiosity, and lost. The great cat started toward the source of the odd smells.

**Author's note: Apparently they're supposed to be called 'saber-toothed cats' now, but I still think of them as saber-toothed tigers. I'm also ignoring the recent research saying they might be pack hunters. I suspect Phineas and Isabella will have enough trouble with one, to be honest.**


	5. Chapter 5

Isabella couldn't sleep.

_I don't believe it. He knew all along. And he didn't tell me. He let me look like a fool in front of everyone. And then he thinks he can tell me he likes me and it's all better._

_He told me he likes me. He actually likes me. Or...liked me, I suppose. Hopefully he still does._

_He just did exactly what I've wanted him to do for years - what I've dreamed of. What I dreamed of this morning, come to think of it. He came out and told me that he'd always liked me, and couldn't keep it a secret any more._

_And I got mad at him for it, and maybe chased him away._

She winced. _Isabella, you're an idiot._

* * *

Phineas decided to give up on sleep. While spending the night with Isabella sounded sweet and romantic, he was finding that it wasn't as easy in reality. He wasn't used to having somebody else sleeping that close to him, the small shelter felt far too crowded, and she still seemed mad at him. And, to be honest, he wasn't too thrilled with her at the moment.

He built up the fire again, then decided to go sit for a while and think. The wind had died down, and the chilly night was clear with a full moon high in the sky.

_Did she really think I didn't know? Between all the times she threw herself at me, and everyone else's knowing looks when she did? I knew even before Ferb told me._

_For two people who like each other so much, how did we get this so wrong?_

From the shelter, he heard Isabella crying.

"Isabella? What's wrong?"

He got no response.

"Isabella? Do you want to come out and sit with me?"

"No," she said petulantly.

"Please?"

With a sobbing sigh, she crawled out of the shelter into the moonlight, her face a mass of tears.

"Come here. You look like you need a hug," he said.

She sat on his lap and buried her head in his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said through her tears. "I messed it all up."

"Shh," he said, wrapping her in his arms. "It's okay." He stroked her hair. "I'm here for you. Always."

She sat back enough to look at him. "Even when I get mad at you for doing what I'd always dreamed of you doing?"

"Even then." He reached up and brushed the tears off her cheek.

A faint smile appeared on her face even as her eyes teared up more. "Why?" she asked, puzzled.

"Because I like you. A lot. Because I meant what I said earlier. Because of all the stuff I've put you through over the years, and everything you've done for me, and everything we've meant to each other."

She looked down, thinking. "I had a crush on you the first day we met. Back when we were eight. I've been chasing you for almost half my life...I think, most of all, I got mad that I lost that. That it was all unnecessary."

"It wasn't. I just needed time to figure out what to do about it."

"So...now what?"

He hugged her. "Let's not make any decisions tonight. I like you. You like me. We'll worry about the details later. Sound okay?"

She nodded.

* * *

They decided to try sleep again.

"Um. Still kind of crowded in there," Isabella said.

"If I were still oblivious, what would we do?"

She thought briefly. "We'd get in there, I'd try to find some excuse to get you to hold me, I'd drop some romantic suggestions that you'd miss, and then we'd both go to sleep."

"Okay. Let's try that, only without the 'finding the excuse' or the 'missing the romantic suggestions'?"

She laughed, and they crawled into the shelter.

"Can I hold you? At least for a minute or two?" he asked.

"Yes," she sighed happily, and leaned back into him. He put his arms around her, and felt her pressed up against him.

A few minutes later, Isabella asked, "That isn't your multitool in your pocket, is it?"

"I'm sorry. It's just...I'm holding a beautiful girl who's liked me for years. Some parts of me...really like that idea."

She giggled. "I can understand that. Some parts of me really like it too."

"That wasn't a suggestion that I'm missing, was it?" he asked in a half-panicked voice.

"No," she said emphatically, then chuckled.

He breathed a sigh of relief. "I didn't think so. I'm still getting used to the idea of acknowledging our feelings. Feel free to tell me if I miss one."

"That's kinda not the point of a suggestion. If I tell you, then it's a request."

* * *

Ferb powered on the projector again. This time, it stabilized, and again showed the word "FERB" scratched in the dirt. The assembled kids cheered. He began stepping it back, 2 days at a time, until it vanished, then went forward one step to find it again, just at sunrise.

"There's an arrow next to it," said Gretchen. "They probably want us to follow it."

"Look, that tree there is marked," said Ginger.

"And another!" added Adyson. "Follow those trees!"

Ferb followed the marked trees to find the smoldering embers of a fire and a small shelter containing Phineas and Isabella, both sleeping, lying back-to-back.

Ginger turned to Buford. "Pay up."

"Oh, no. We haven't gotten them back yet. And look, there's no free space in that shelter. They may just be sharing body heat in a desperate attempt to stay alive."

Ginger frowned at him, and turned back to Ferb.

Ferb said, "Well, we've found them."

Gretchen added, "I've marked the coordinates. Now we need to take the projector down to add portal ability. This will just take a few minutes."


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for all the reviews, folks. I know I'm not as chatty here as a lot of other authors, but I wanted to make sure you know - they are appreciated. Your attention is a gift; thank you for sharing it with me.**

* * *

Phineas awoke to the strange feeling he was being watched. He looked around, but didn't see anything outside the shelter. They had finally gotten some sleep after all. Now, he was feeling happy, because he woke up next to Isabella, and that was a feeling he could get used to.

He was looking at her, marveling at how peaceful she looked while sleeping, when her eyelids fluttered and she looked at him. "Good morning," she said.

"Good morning. How are you doing?"

"Tired. Sore. A little cold. Still not really believing what we talked about last night. You?"

"About the same. I'll go get the fire going." He gave her a quick hug and crawled out of the shelter.

They shared the third fish and some berries for breakfast. "So, what's the plan for today, Isabella?" he asked.

"Fishing runs a bit too much of a risk of someone falling in the water again, and it's a bit cold for that. I'm thinking of hunting small game - we saw rabbits and squirrels earlier. We should consider some traps as well - that would be a good way for us to increase our food supply without needing to hunt every creature ourselves."

Phineas's eyes widened. "You'd hunt cute little bunnies?"

"Yes, yes I would. They're a good source of meat and fur, and there's a lot of them around. They're adorable, but survival takes precedence. We can't live on them forever, but as long as we eat enough fish or other fatty meats, we'll be okay."

"Understood. I'll get us more firewood, gather some more fruits and berries, and see about improving our shelter a bit, then work on a cover for the wood in case it starts raining. We really need something to take down trees with, I think. Have you found any good stones we could make axes or spear points from?" he asked.

"Not yet. We've each got a serrated blade, which we can get small trees with, but we need to keep an eye out for a good axe blade. Meet back here for lunch?"

He nodded. "Aye-aye, chief."

* * *

[musical interlude]

When there's a lot of things that need to be done, you need a work montage.

[images of Ferb and Gretchen working on the time projector]

When making things happen is Job Number One, you need a work montage.

[images of Phineas working on the shelter, adding insulation and better flooring]

It's a lot of pictures, with a musical beat, it's a work montage

[images of Isabella hunting a rabbit with a throwing stick]

It makes time happen faster, keeps you in your seat, it's a work montage

[images of Phineas cutting down a small tree and using it as part of a cover for their firewood]

* * *

Isabella was returning to camp with two rabbits tied to her belt when she heard something rustling the leaves near her. Looking around, she saw a large feline creature walking parallel to her through the trees, a hundred feet away or so. It was looking in her direction inquisitively. She saw that it had large, curved fangs sticking out from its upper jaw. _Saber-toothed tiger. Just what we needed._ She gripped her spear and pointed it in the great cat's direction.

* * *

The saber-toothed tiger eyed the strange creature. It was a bipedal hunter of some sort - it had two rabbits attached to it somehow - and that bright magenta plumage clearly indicated it felt no need to hide itself. It held a pointed stick, which it gestured with, but appeared to have no claws or horns. _A potential threat. Worth investigating, but for now, I need to find some easier prey._

* * *

Isabella exhaled with relief as the great cat turned away, and she hurried the rest of the way back to the camp, keeping an eye over her shoulder. Phineas was just finishing up the wood cover as she arrived.

"Phineas, there's a saber-toothed tiger out there. We're going to need to keep the fire going around the clock, I think, and stick together when we leave the camp."

"Huh. I guess we are far enough back that humans aren't here yet, then. They went extinct as soon as humans arrived."

"I think I can understand why. I'd swear it was evaluating me."

"Let's stay close to the camp for the rest of the day and hope it goes elsewhere, then."

"Yeah, I need to skin the rabbits. Can you work on some traps?"

"Sure thing."

* * *

"I don't think I'd ever eaten rabbit before. That was pretty tasty, Isabella."

They sat together in front of their shelter as the sun sank low in the sky. The fire was burning brightly, keeping the growing shadows at bay.

"Thank you. The little tomatoes went well with it. There's another one we can have for breakfast, too. I'm trying to figure out how we can cure the skins; my Fireside Girls handbook says to put salt on them, but we don't have any."

"Then what would we do with them?"

"Well, I think it's autumn, so it's going to get colder. We're going to need something warmer than these light summer clothes."

"Just until Ferb finds us."

"It's been over a day - is it really likely?"

"He'll come through."

_I finally get him to myself, and I'm still fighting with Ferb for him. Story of my life._

_And if Ferb ever does find us, I know I'll lose Phineas again. Back in Danville, it'll be back to the way it was. I just know it. And I won't even have the excuse of thinking he's just oblivious anymore._

_It's almost enough to make me hope Ferb never does find us._

* * *

Gretchen looked at Ferb. "I think I threw off the temporal targeting a bit setting things up. We're going to have to re-target when we get this functional again."

Ferb smiled and nodded, and kept working.

* * *

Isabella sat against the tree, planning, while Phineas was getting some more water from the stream.

_I think once I can convince Phineas that Ferb isn't going to find us, he'll be able to warp the laws of physics like usual and start building a technology base. He probably will get the turkeys and bison to help, too. But right now, he's just coasting and waiting for Ferb to pull him out._

_Hopefully, by the time he invents time travel again, we'll be in a relationship and he won't dump me for Ferb immediately upon return to Danville._

_There's always hope._

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Phineas asked as he handed her a birch-bark cup of water.

She smiled at him. "What we need to make next. I think tomorrow, we go out together to set traps and try to take down something a bit bigger - I'm thinking a turkey. Eventually we need to get something big enough that we can eat on it for a couple days and get ahead of the game. We're going to need bigger skins, too. That saber-toothed tiger was gorgeous, but that's a bit risky to get."

He sat next to her, and she shifted over to sit on his lap.

"You fit nicely there," he said. "Almost like we were meant to be like this."

"Maybe we were."

He grinned at her, and she smiled back.

_Maybe I should kiss him. I don't think he'd mind...no, don't scare him off. Give him time, let him make the first move there._

* * *

Lying in the shelter that night was less disconcerting, Phineas found. It was warmer inside - emotionally as well as in temperature. Isabella was lying next to him, looking at him, with her hair falling over her eyes. He reached over and gently brushed it back behind her ear, causing her to giggle.

_Maybe I should kiss her. Although while we're in this tiny shelter, I'd feel like I had her trapped. Maybe tomorrow morning._

* * *

The cat stalked through the night, following the trail of the biped and the smoke of the fire - they seemed to come from the same place.

* * *

**Final chapter tomorrow, along with the epilogue. Still doing some rewrites.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hard to believe we're already at the end. One final chapter, then an epilogue. More notes after the epilogue.**

* * *

Gretchen looked at Ferb. "Ready?"

He nodded, and turned on the projector.

The view was sunrise of a different day. Phineas and Isabella were both there, sitting in front of the shelter, eating...meat of some sort. Ferb gave Gretchen a thumbs-up, and she turned on the portal.

* * *

The cat approached the clearing where the biped and the fire both seemed to come from. The biped apparently had a mate with orange plumage, and a tame fire. It had burned the rabbit in the fire before eating it - the results smelled delicious. Suddenly, a large vision appeared near the fire, and the cat shrank back and watched. More bipeds were in the vision, all in their own brightly-colored plumage.

* * *

Phineas and Isabella were eating breakfast when, just off to one side of the fire, a rectangular window shimmered into view. Visible on the other side of the window were their gathered friends, centered around Ferb. He waved to them.

"FERB!" they shouted together.

"I knew I could count on you, Ferb!" Phineas yelled. "Come on, Isabella!"

She sighed wistfully. "Let me grab my rabbit skins first." She ran over to where she'd placed them after cleaning them.

* * *

The magenta-plumaged biped was coming into reach, and didn't have its pointy stick! The cat weighed its odds. This biped was smaller than its mate, and the cat could probably carry it off before the other bipeds could react.

* * *

Phineas saw it as if in slow motion. Isabella had just grabbed the rabbit skins, and right in front of her, the saber-toothed tiger poised to strike. "Tiger! Look out!" he yelled. She looked up and saw the cat, jumping aside just before it sprang at her. Phineas grabbed a spear and charged in, thrusting at the cat and distracting it before it could reverse on Isabella. Isabella rolled away, dropped the rabbit skins, and reached for the nearest weapon, a large piece of wood she gripped as a club.

The cat leapt forward, out from between the two of them, placing it between them and the portal. It growled and batted at Phineas's spear, knocking it from his hand. It sprung at him, knocking him down.

* * *

The cat realized - without their sticks the bipeds had no defenses. It knocked the stick away from the larger one, then tackled it. It raised its head to rip out the biped's throat...only to fall to one side as its left rear leg was knocked out from under it as the smaller biped swung its stick _hard_. _That hurt._

It continued its roll, limping slightly as it turned toward the one who had hurt it. It batted at the stick, which the biped swung quickly at its foreleg, causing it to pull back. The larger biped had stood up again and was heading for the tame fire as the cat and smaller biped circled each other.

* * *

Phineas grabbed a burning brand from the fire, and turned to see Isabella poking at the cat's defenses. "Here, kitty, kitty," she said in a low, menacing voice. "You'll make a nice rug." Phineas waved the fire at the cat, causing it to recoil, then said, "Isabella, come on, let's get through the portal quickly!"

They backed toward the portal, the cat stalking forward as it followed them warily, while behind them, their friends cheered them on.

* * *

Time restarted suddenly. The platypus caught in mid-air continued his swing, hitting Doofenshmirtz squarely in the face with his tail. Doofenshmirtz's arms flailed as he fell, hitting the controls again, sending another beam out the window. The machine began to spin wildly. Perry dove out the open window as the spinning machine flew apart.

As his parachute opened, from the window behind him came a cry: "CURSE YOU, PERRY THE PLATYPUS!"

* * *

Isabella was too busy watching the cat to notice the branch behind her ankle as she backed toward the portal. Suddenly, her balance lost, she was falling over backwards, and the cat, sensing an opportunity, sprung forward. She rolled to one side, making the cat miss; its momentum carried it forward, right into the portal.

* * *

Another beam hit the time portal, and the cat jumping through it. The cat froze, blocking the middle of the portal, which began to shimmer around the edges and shrink. Phineas called out, "Go through, Isabella! Something's going wrong again!" From the other side of the portal, Gretchen shouted, "The projector is on fire!"

Isabella stood up and jumped past the cat, back into the present; Phineas slid through on the other side just before the portal closed, taking the cat back in time with it.

* * *

A cheer went up as Phineas and Isabella arrived back in their normal time. The projector went up in flames, leaving a small scorch mark on the table. Everyone started hugging them, glad to see them back. Off to one side, Ginger looked at Buford. "Ten bucks. Pay up."

"Oh, no. I'd say a fight with a sabertooth is pretty desperate," he said.

Ginger's eyes narrowed, then she nodded and handed him the money. "I'll get it back soon enough."

Phineas and Isabella were still getting passed around and hugging everyone when they ended up facing each other. Isabella looked at him. _This is it. End of the relationship. It was fun while it lasted, Isabella._ She braced herself for the sudden dose of reality.

He hugged her close, and she sank into his arms. _Oh._ After a bit, he loosened his hug, causing her to look up at him questioningly.

She was utterly not expecting it when he kissed her, but once she got over the surprise, she eagerly leaned into the kiss.

Ginger raised an eyebrow at Buford. Silently, he handed the bill back to her.

Linda came out into the back yard. "What's all the shouting?" She saw Phineas and Isabella kissing, and pulled out her phone. "Hi, Vivian? Phineas finally got a clue. Yeah, they're kissing right now."

Ferb heard a noise at his feet. He looked down and saw Perry. He nodded at the platypus, acknowledging his return. Perry chittered.


	8. Epilogue

All their friends had gone home. Isabella had crossed the street for a shower, then come to visit for supper, with the enthusiastic encouragement of both their mothers. Now, in the cool early summer evening, Phineas sat in the backyard under the tree. Isabella sat in his lap, her head on his shoulder. She sighed contentedly.

"See, I told you we'd be back in time for dinner. How many patches did you get for our adventures?"

"Six. The Traveling Through Time patch - again - and the Wilderness Survival, Spearfishing, Small Furry Creature Hunting, Fish Preparation, and Cute Boyfriend patches. If I'd managed to keep the rabbit skins, I could have gotten the Free-Range Furrier patch, too. What's the plan for tomorrow?"

"Ferb and I never got to our notes for the paper. Maybe we'll go to the library."

They sat together for a few minutes, just enjoying being home, together.

"I was worried that when we got back, it would all go back to how it was," Isabella said.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily," he said, and kissed her.

After they came up for air, she said, "We made a pretty good team."

"We did. It's going to be weird going to sleep alone tonight. I'll miss you."

"I'm just across the street, and we'll see each other tomorrow."

Ferb came out the back door of the house. "I have a confession to make," he said. "The fine targeting wasn't broken. I deliberately left you back in time for two days. And I'm not sorry about it."

Isabella looked shocked, and looked from Ferb to Phineas. "You _planned_ that?"

Phineas, equally shocked, shook his head. "I didn't."

Ferb said, "I didn't _plan_ it. I took advantage of the opportunity. And, apparently...so did you."

* * *

**Phew. A few notes:**

**The characters surprised me at least twice while I was writing this. The first surprise was when Phineas offered Isabella his shirt - I really hadn't planned for that, it just came out organically as his immediate reaction. The second surprise was when Ferb pointed out to me that he'd done it deliberately.**

**There's some associated fluff vignettes coming, starting tomorrow. Tentative title is 'Firsts', and I think we're starting with Their First Fight. (Title is tentative because it's a bit generic.) These will probably be rated T as well, but I think they'll be tamer than this.**

**Many, many thanks to all those who've read this far, and especially to all who've reviewed.**


End file.
